A Mother's Strength, A Wife's Fall

ed marble of our kitchen island, held down by a salt shaker. It was small a

ntern, Lily Chen, a girl barely old enough to drink legally, had a hand placed protectively

r voice a little too loud in

e man I had loved for fifteen years, the man for whom I had sacrificed everything, wouldn' t m

y voice wa

tic mix of guilt and desperation. "Sarah, I.

g a train. Not like systematically cheating on y

a lie so flimsy it was insulting.

felt a cold anger begin to bu

. He was holding a glass of water. He didn't give it

softly to her. "Yo

nd loved with every fiber of my being. His face was a mask of con

estion was a b

, just listen. Dad made a mistake. Lily is

low. It wasn't just my husband. It was my son, too.

licate sip of water. She looked at me

dripping with false sincerity. "We can make this work. I can live h

s illegitimate child. She wanted me to welcome her into my home, the hom

t order of my home, it all dissolved into chaos. I looked at the three of them standing there: my cowardly husband, his manipulat

d deep, a cold dread that spread through my veins. This wasn't a mi

s a dem

knew with absolute certainty that my marriag

-